By contrast, grocery costs are often more controllable. About 30% of an average American household’s monthly budget is spent on food, so careful planning and a little discipline when cruising the supermarket aisles can generate significant savings. Here are four suggestions for taming your grocery bill.

• Avoid prepackaged foods. Bagged salads may save a little time, but they often exceed the cost of individual ingredients. Instead of buying hamburger (or tuna or chicken) helper, purchase the rice separately. Add your own spices and herbs. Make your own “prepackaged” helpers to save time and expense.

• Skip the energy bars. These items are often impulse buys. That’s why marketing departments place them at eye level near the checkout stand. Read the label and you may find that your “energy” bar is simply glorified candy, loaded with fat and sugar, and costing a bundle.

• Stock up on coupons. Your mother and grandmother used them, and for good reason. Clipping coupons can make a huge dent in your grocery bill. And these days you can find coupons online, as well as in your Sunday newspaper supplement. Printable coupon sites include Coupons.com and SmartSource.com.

• Use care at the warehouse store. Bulk-purchase stores offer great deals on everything from toilet paper to hamburger to electronics. But buying in bulk doesn’t always translate to savings. Consider whether a better price is available at your local supermarket, especially when coupons are available. And don’t fall into the trap of buying more than you really need, just because the unit price is cheap. Six months later, when you’re throwing away that unused package of freezer-burned chicken, you may wonder whether the “bargain purchase” was really a bargain.

 

This mountain of unpaid debt has provided a wonderful business opportunity for debt collectors. Typically, credit card issuers will attempt to collect late payments for about six months. After that, they may outsource their collection activities to an agency or law firm that specializes in tracking down past-due accounts. If those parties are unsuccessful, the card issuer may write off the debt and sell it to a third party known as a “scavenger debt collector.”

These scavenger collectors typically pay 3¢ to 10¢ for each dollar of debt. Say, for example, you owe $1,000 to a credit card company. A scavenger agency might buy that debt for $60, then try to collect the entire outstanding balance. If successful, the return for these firms can be phenomenal: $1,000 (often plus interest and fees) for a $60 investment. Of course, most old debts are difficult or impossible to collect. That’s why such companies can purchase the debt so cheaply.

If debt collectors are pressuring you, know your rights. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) offers specific protections to consumers. For example, you have the right to ask a collector for written proof of the debt he’s trying to collect. You’re also allowed to dispute a debt you don’t think you owe, as long as you put your dispute in writing within 30 days of being contacted.

The FDCPA also places certain restrictions on the practices of debt collectors. They can’t contact you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. (unless you agree), they can’t call you at work if they know your employer disapproves, and they can’t falsely imply that they’re attorneys or government representatives. Debt collectors are also barred from using profane language or harassing you by repeated telephone calls. They can’t threaten you with consequences that aren’t legal, falsely imply that you’ve committed a crime, misrepresent the amount of your debt, or state that you’ll be arrested if you don’t pay.

For more information about your consumer rights and debt collection laws, contact www.ftc.gov or your state’s attorney general.